Q I read about the Highway 101 face-lift starting soon. How come the designers did not come up with a direct link to 101 north from south Interstate 880? You have to get off 880 and go onto a side street to enter 101 from Bayshore Road. It never made sense to connect freeways this way.

Andrew Smith

Campbell

A This goes back decades, so I turned to Greg-the-former-Caltrans-spokesman, who knows his road history, and here is what he says:

“Two factors are behind this. The interchange would have had to be built with one quadrant being very large — the one that would contain the ramp from southbound 880 ﻿”… to northbound 101. To place that ramp, a substantial amount of right of way would be required. The amount of traffic using this ramp would be minimal since several opportunities to access 101 exist along 880” — notably, Highway 237 and Montague Expressway.

But there is another way to go from south 880 to north 101 without leaving the freeway. It’s a series of tight turns, but it will get you there:

Take the ramp from south 880 to south 101.

Stay in the far-right merge lane and turn onto the north 880 ramp.

Remain in the far-right merge lane and enter the ramp to — you got it! — north 101.

Q The intersection of Embarcadero Road and El Camino Real in Palo Alto is unnecessarily dangerous for pedestrians. The left-turn light for cars leaving Stanford turns green at the same time the pedestrian “Walk” signal comes on to cross El Camino. Cars barrel out, then stop suddenly when the driver realizes there are pedestrians in the crosswalk. One of these days a driver won’t stop in time.

Paul Gregory

Palo Alto

A Finally, some good news. Caltrans will begin work within a couple of months to install additional signal heads for left-turn arrows on Embarcadero and Galvez Street. This will provide drivers turning left and pedestrians crossing El Camino with separate times to proceed.

Q Caltrain recently announced that Translink is set and ready to be used to pay fares. Well, I beg to differ. Suppose you’re old-school and buy passes and tickets from a ticket vending machine. If you have a monthly pass from San Francisco to Redwood City (Zone 1 to Zone 2), and you decide to go down to Mountain View, you’d normally buy a one-zone upgrade for $1.75. However, if you want to do it all with Translink, upon getting off in Mountain View, you’ll get dinged $7.75 instead of $1.75. It turns out that Translink doesn’t support zone upgrades on Caltrain and charges you a full one-way fare instead of making use of your pass. Can you check to see when zone upgrades will be ready on Translink?

Martin Wasiak

San Francisco

A Caltrain riders, be forewarned. Martin is right. Riders who have monthly passes stored on Translink can use their Translink card to travel further than their monthly pass zone, but they will be charged the full fare. They will not get the discount they are entitled to as a monthly pass holder. If you want to get the discounted fare, you need to purchase a paper ticket at the Caltrain ticket vending machine. This will not be changing in the foreseeable future. Bummer.

Q Do you cover Castro Valley, or do you not venture that far north of Mercury News territory?

Bev Lindsay

Castro Valley

A The world is my domain.

Q We were told last summer that resurfacing the pathetic condition of Redwood Road would begin in November with stimulus funds. We’re still waiting. What gives?

Bev Lindsay

A The contract was awarded last fall, but crews will use rubberized asphalt, which is best applied in warmer months. Look for work to begin this summer.

Q I have a question about the legality of left turns on red from a one-way street. Recently, I’ve seen this happen a lot and I always thought it was illegal. No? Yes?

Lila Naimark

A It’s legal to make a left turn on a red light from a one-way street onto another one-way street — after, of course, you come to a complete stop and if it is safe to proceed.

Gary Richards has covered traffic and transportation in the Bay Area as Mr. Roadshow since 1992. Prior to that he was an assistant sports editor at the paper from 1984-1987. He started his journalism career as a sports editor in Iowa in 1975.

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